New European Digital Music Survey Published

INDICARE: A new consumer survey on Digital Music was published this week by INDICARE. The study shows that music discovery leads to more sales which could be a boost to the pro-filesharing camp...The survery also shows that "69 percent of European Internet users listen to digital music on their computer and that 40 percent use a MP3 player...Digital music files are, however, not primarily downloaded from the Internet. By far the most important source for digital music are ripped CDs that consumers either purchased themselves or borrowed from family members and friends." The survey results are available as a free download HERE.

It should come as no surprise that the research results indicate consumer confusion in the market...According to Nicole Dufft, senior analyst at Berlecon Research who produced the survey, “Consumers expect that they can burn, share, and transfer their digital music files between different devices. They are confused and annoyed when technical restrictions keep them from doing so.” Berlecon, therefore, recommends online and mobile music stores to significantly improve their information policy. “This is not only necessary for the sake of informed consumers but also for the sake of satisfied customers.”